easyJet has just won an important legal battle against a cybersquatter who had registered and was trying to sell the domain name “easyJet.net”.

This individual had purchased the domain name with the sole intention of securing personal financial gain, and offered it for sale to easyJet. When this was rejected by easyJet, the cybersquatter offered the domain name for sale to one of our competitors. The competitor rejected the advance, and later gave evidence against this person, helping to secure the easyJet victory.

easyJet lawyers passed the case on to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which independently adjudicates on the use, or misuse of domain names. WIPO ruled that the domain name was confusingly similar to intellectual property over which easyJet has rights. It also concluded that “easyJet.net” had been registered and used in bad faith, and that the individual had no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name. This domain name has now been transferred to easyJet and points to www.easyJet.com.

Stelios, Chairman of easyJet said,

“easyJet will not tolerate anyone sitting on domain names that could be confused with easyJet and will actively pursue any offenders. The easyJet name, together with associated intellectual properties, are amongst the company’s most important assets, and we will continue to defend them most rigorously against abuse”.